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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Rather than beef up the options on the fee-based Pro accounts, in 11 Aug 2011 post Geni Pro Just Got a Whole Lot BetterGeni.com has decided to restrict options on the freebie accounts, thus effectively rendering a freebie account worthless. Geni.com users are complaining loudly (see comments to that announcement blog linked above) and many are flocking to other freebie online tree sites.

When I received the Geni.com announcement, I was stunned.

Of particular concern is the ability now granted ANY Pro Geni.com user to modify my personal tree without my permission.

Chris Witten of WikiTree.com (a Geni.com competitor) made comments (now removed from the FB lineup) that he had noticed a sizable flock of Geni.com users moving to his free WikiTree.com site. To this I replied on Facebook:

The concept of my online tree being essentially hijacked by another pro user's merging of data really steams me. We've got to learn how to use the cloud and collaborate without sacrificing control of our own data. THIS is why PC-based genealogy software isn't going away anytime soon.

A leading GeneaBlogger wondered why the genealogy blogosphere had been essentially quiet on the subject with so much happening as a result of Geni.com's ill-fated announcement. To this I replied:

I think what we've learned is that if a genealogy website wants to make a major change, it should do it in the summer when typically we're all too busy with vacations to complain much. We're doing family reunions and tromping through those cemeteries we couldn't visit during the inclement winter months.

My response was swift and sure -- though on FB, where I tend to post some things now more frequently than in my blog. (I knew I would be away from my keyboard most of the day yesterday, and didn't want to hold back on receiving comments from people.)

My DearREADERS, you can follow that thread of responses over on my Facebook page:

One reason for this change, not mentioned in the blog post, perhaps because Geni.com assumed everyone already understood that, yet stated in comments, is that Pro users no longer have to worry about people that won’t reply on merge requests. This is, or rather was, a common complaint of Geni.com users.

Please note the updates with additional information on the bottom of Tamura's article.

The AncestorSync program has potential to help me add content to the tree, but it is still in development and beta testing. So I'm waiting for AncestorSync to work flawlessly by interfacing with my RootsMagic tree and the Geni tree. When it does, I will use AncestorSync to add content to my Geni tree.

My thoughts followed Randy's:

Maybe it is in anticipation of increased server usage when AncestorSync goes live that Geni.com made this change? Obviously Geni.com hopes every freebie account will move on up to the Pro side.

There is also concern about how one must have a Pro account to search the entire Geni.com site of online trees. To this I reply:

Restricting collaboration to those with Pro accounts sorta defeats the purpose of a freebie account, doesn't it Geni.com? How will anyone see a benefit of going Pro?

Last week, Ol' Myrt here was interviewed for an upcoming episode of Geni.com's podcast. The airing of that podcast may imply I approve of the Geni.com changes in account services, which I do not. During the podcast, I specifically recommend maintaining an online tree for the ability to collaborate with other researchers.

CAN GENI.COM PULL OUT OF THIS DOWNWARD SPIRAL?Recouping from this faux pas isn't impossible. Geni.com needs to reverse its policy change and immediately institute a plan to vet major changes with its choice of leading genealogy bloggers who have a long tradition of understanding what their readers want from genealogy vendors.